Thursday, 7 March 2013

Dignity in death for pets

Two days ago, the pet Doberman of my neighbour died. The owners were grief struck and after some time they decided to dispose off the body.

Since their house was small, they could not bury the dog in their house and they wanted to dispose off the pet in a dignified manner as the dog had kept them company for nearly two decades.

When they tried to get a place to bury their pet, the reality that Bangalore does not care about animals-of course it has for long stopped caring about humans-hot them hard.

Calls to the BBMP to find out from them if there was a cemetery evoked unsatisfactory answers. The first time around, the person manning the telephone at the BBMP office did not know of any such cemetery in Bangalore. The second call was a little more helpful.

The man said there was a pet cemetery at Kengeri and that we could get the telephone number from the directory. A frantic search revealed to us that there was a cemetery for pets and that it was being operated by People For Animals (PFA).

We buried the pet at the PFA cemetery and I must tell you that is a very decent place for burying pets.

The only problem is the distance. It is almost 20 kms from Bangalore and it has witnessed more than 500 burials ofpets, most of them dogs, cats and birds.

You can either simply bury your pet here or you can get a stone inscribed over its grave. Of course there is s small fee for it and for he burial too.

You have to call PFA before you take your pet for burial. They do send ambulances to ferry your pet but this is only in exceptional cases. In case you want to pet to be covered with granite stones and its name inscribed, the cost is three and half times more than normal burials which costs upwards of Rs. 3,500.

The receipt given for burial can be used for seeking tax exemption from the Income Tax authorities or when you file your tax returns. The cemetery is recognised by the Central Zoo Authority of India.

The pet cemetery was started on a one acre plot in 2005 and since then it has become the last refuge for pet lovers who otherwise would have struggled to find a decent place to bury their pets.

The PFA team of Namrata Dugar, Alpana Bhartia, Gauri Maini and Arushi Poddar were involved in the project of conceptualizing, designing and constructing the cemetery.

The money from the burial is used by the PFA to treat ailing and injured animals in its animal hospital.

The cemetery can be reached at 28603986 or 28612767.

Many people claim that this is the first cemetery of its kind in south India. While this may be partially true, the real fact is that the BBMP did have a cemetery for burying pets in Mattigere near Yelahanka off Bellary Road.

This site had been exclusively earmarked by the BBMP for burying pets and it covers two acres.